More Insight Into The True Nature of The Sacrament of Confession On This A 17th Sunday after Pentecost

On this 17th Sunday after Pentecost, we continue our exploration the true nature of the Sacrament of Confession. Our guide has been Father Alfred Wilson's Pardon and Peace.  

Last week's post should have been enough to motivate us to: not consider Confession something difficult to approach; understand the actual purpose of Confession, that it was designed for us more so than as a way to placate an angry God.

God is merciful. He loves us. Jesus did not institute the Sacrament of Penance to placate His Father. He died for our sins. No more placation was necessary.

We, on the other hand, struggle with temptation. We don't always succeed and sometimes we fall. Confession allows us to face our failures. It provides a place where we can come to our loving and merciful God and express our love for Him in a very special way. 

There's no intent to make Confession difficult. We need to know this.

    “We must never lose sigh of the fact that Confession is preeminently a sacrament of mercy. Jesus comes to us as our merciful judge on the Way, that He may not have to be a stern judge at the Journey’s End. If we treat Him as a taskmaster, we completely misunderstand Him. It is no excuse to say that we want to be on the safe side. We do not put ourselves on the safe side by insulting Him and nursing heretical ideas. Not merely need we not, but we must not, make Confession a worrying nerve-straining effort. Straining is prohibited not commanded. Because Confession is not meant to be a bugbear, all theologians teach that no one is obliged to put himself to serious inconvenience when he goes to Confession. This is a principle of great importance, which should be well pondered and never lost sight of. If we act on any other principle, we guilty of obstinate pride by constructing our own practical theology in direct opposition to the teaching the Christ and His Church. All our Lord demands is that we take enough trouble to make our confession sincere. When we have confessed sincerely, there is absolutely no need to worry because we did not confess with the greatest possible earnestness and intensity. We are bound to do our best; but we are not bound to do our bestest-best (if I might be pardoned the ugly phrase.)

    “If penitents remember this, they would save themselves much entirely unnecessary worry and nervous strain. It is a patent fact that many Catholics go infrequently to Confession because of a false notion of its requirements. They imagine that they must make a super-effort every time, and naturally they cannot make such an effort often, because it takes too much out of them. Even some of those who go frequently to Confession find it a strain, and are relieved when they have got Saturday night over. To act like this is to play into the hands of unbelievers. At the Reformation, Confession was called a ‘butchery of consciences,’ and Catholics were accused of leaving nothing to the mercy of God. Over-anxious penitents might profitably ask themselves what they do leave to the mercy of God.”

To repeat: All our Lord demands is that we take enough trouble to make our confession sincere. When we have confessed sincerely, there is absolutely no need to worry because we did not confess with the greatest possible earnestness and intensity. We are bound to do our best; but we are not bound to do our bestest-best...

 

Happy Sunday!